RISE: Health care overhaul goes to House Budget Committee

Committee expected to pass GOP health bill, Alabama moving to be 'right to life' state, NCAA Tournamnet begins and more headlines to start your day Thursday, March 16, 2017.

From staff and wire reports

The House Budget Committee, whose membership includes several conservative mavericks, is expected to sign off on the GOP's attempt to overhaul health care Thursday in what could be a close vote.

The hearing on “American Health Care Act of 2017” begins at 10 a.m. Eastern. Twenty-two Republicans and 14 Democrats make up the committee.

ALABAMA LOOKS TO BECOME SYMBOLIC 'RIGHT TO LIFE' STATE

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — There's no sign of U.S. abortion law changing anytime soon, but Alabama wants to be ready if it ever does.

A proposal in the Republican-controlled Legislature would declare Alabama a "right to life" state by amending the state constitution. The House of Representatives will vote on the bill Thursday, and if it passes the Legislature and is signed by the Republican governor, the constitutional amendment would go before voters in 2018.

TRUE MADNESS IS UPON US

Recent history tells us odds are pretty good that a No. 12 seed will beat a No. 5 seed during the first round of the NCAA Tournament. So it's only fitting that the first game of this year's bracket is such a matchup.

Notre Dame and Princeton tip at 12:15 p.m. Eastern. The Ivy League champion has won three of its past four games in the first round, including victories Yale (2016) and Harvard (2014) as a No. 12 seed.

TRUMP SUBMITS FIRST BUDGET TO CONGRESS

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has finalized his first budget for the federal government, a blueprint that would make deep cuts in the Environmental Protection Agency and other domestic programs while significantly increasing spending on the military.

The budget, to be submitted to Congress on Thursday, was widely expected to cause political pain for Republicans and Democrats, who will have the final say on spending in the arduous budget process.